Arasghilana Virnehn
"There's so much I'd like to do in the long term, but I don't know where to start. But now I know what I want to do, right now. I intend to stay by her side and look after her" Arasghilana is an elven arcane warrior who recently regained her magic and emotions from being tranquil. She's very emotional and can sometimes act on impulse. She is played by Emma. Background Arasghilana was born to a clan of Dalish elves in the Orlesian Heartlands by Lake Celestine, west of Montsimmard. It was a spot her clan often travelled to, a peninsula with rich waters and a forest full of lively game. The shemlen of Montsimmard were often found in the same area, but the Orlesian fishers knew the Dalish meant them no harm and allowed their presence to remain unknown. As she grew older, Arasghilana even found herself teaching a shemlen how to better use his bow to hunt in the shallow waters. She would often tend to the halla, feeling a close kinship with the creations of Ghilan'nain. Her Keeper kept asking her whether she would choose the vallaslin of the Halla Mother due to this kinship, or whether she would follow the Ghilain'nain's lover Andruil in light of her skill with bow and arrow. The answer came mere days before it was time to prepare the blood writing, when the young elf willed the broken leg of a halla to heal. Her magic should have come to define her more than a bow ever could, so her face was adorned with the Mother of Halla's markings as she was declared First to the Keeper. But this was not to be. She never needed to fulfill the duties of a First, since one of the fishermen had reacted badly to a display of her prowess as she flung an arcane lance into Lake Celestine in an attempt to catch cod. The templars soon found her clan. When they declared they would spill the blood of one elf after another until they were presented with the clan's mage, the Keeper fell covering Arasghilana's escape, claiming he was their only elf capable of magic. But his words were not listened to. The shemlen still set off after the First, who did not manage to escape the knights and was taken to the White Spire in Val Royeaux. Rebellious and angry, Arasghilana barely escaped Tranquility even though her Harrowing was successful. She would not kneel in front of the statues of Andraste and she would claim there was not one Maker but two - and their names were Mythal and Elgar'nan. Her lacking natural talent was another factor. She was in many ways more of a bother than she was an asset, refusing to even light the undying candles in the Spire's chapel and incapable of any greater feats. Things changed for the better after a visit from Wynne, mother of her fellow student Rhys and hero of the Fifth Blight. The older woman was very busy with important Chantry business even after her exploits in Ferelden a couple of years prior, but she took notice of the frustrated and mistreated elf and decided to teach her something she had picked up the basics of during her travels with Mahariel. It was ancient elven magic, from before Tevinter sunk Arlathan beneath the ground. The old woman told her that this magic could be her home away from home, a way to remember where she came from before the templars came. Wynne taught Arasghilana how to focus her magic not outward, but inward. Using the mana in her body as a catalyst, she could augment her muscles. Not only that, building muscle mass that stayed after mana had left her limbs was much easier this way as well. And it was all so wonderfully... elven. As one of the Arcane Warriors of old, Arasghilana studied the ways of heavy blades and wore armour much heavier than anything her frail frame should be capable of handling without breaking a sweat. She became so powerful she attracted the attention of both Senior Enchanter Helaine and Vivienne of Montsimmard who started practicing this lost elven art under her. Arasghilana felt important and for a time that was enough. But as weeks became months, the joy of teaching these two ladies who were many years her seniors turned into disdain. Why should shemlen learn this ancient power of her people, which she had mostly taught herself? She may have started out with base concepts taught by Wynne, but even that old hag could only recall bits and pieces of the words of the great elven hero Mahariel. Teaching the ways of the Arcane Warrior, no, the Dirth'ena Enasalin, to shemlen could only be considered blasphemous perversion in her eyes. But an elf who refuses to teach her unique abilities will be put in solitary confinement. That is where the templars placed her. But with time, she learnt how to bend even the metal bars that kept her locked away with her magic-imbued hands. As the alarm was sounded, First Enchanter Edmonde knew he would need to ask the templars to prepare to have Arasghilana made Tranquil. She was too proud, unwilling to negotiate and worst of all, they were incapable of controlling her. Catching her was not impossible, but keeping her caught was not. That same evening she was asked to beg for forgiveness in front of Andraste, or they would need to give her the brand. As she started vocally begging Ghilain'nain to speed her steps, she gathered mana into her feet and sealed her fate. Forever lost to the Fade, she is angry and proudful no longer. Instead she is quick to help when offered a continuous supply of food and drink. It is important for a body to remain functional after all, otherwise it couldn't do anything any more. It seems obvious enough, but how was such a simple concept so hard to understand for a mage who could bend metal with her bare hands? Involvement Season 1 In season one, Arasghilana is introduced alongside Leben as his tranquil servant. She has come to Jader to take a sample of the Lyrium found there to evaluate its purity. When she touches the raw lyrium she feels a flash of her connection to the fade and emotions reappear but then is snuffed out just as quick. On the road to Val Royeux the party encounters an inn owner hiding a little girl from the templars. Arasghilana helps convince her to go with them and turn herself in to the templars. Empress Celene sends Arasghilana with the party to Castle Cousland after the trial. When they enter the fade she recovers her emotions and a bit of her magic. She is overwhelmed by her emotions. When they finally find, the demon in the fade, Desire Arasghilana agrees to a deal with her. If she sleeps with Desire and gives her half her life, Desire will make sure that she stays un-tranquil when she leaves the fade. Arasghilana joins her and defeats Anais who is against the deal and then joins Desire in bed. Along the way to the Archons camp she meets a dalish elf and is overjoyed. She buys a Halla bandana and ties it around her head to cover up the sunburst mark. During the fight with the Archon she is controlled by blood magic but manages to break free. She has an epic duel with Fenris on the roof of the Archons caravan but manages to talk him down and convince him to switch sides. Season 2 In Season 2 Arasghilana receives an invitation to attend Anais' coronation as archon and, alongside Leben, begins her journey there. Along the way she meets up with Sarah, who she met while they were taking down the archon, and Tyra whom she saved from the fade. On their way to Minrathous, Arasghilana and Sarah bond a bit with Tyra. When they arrive Arasghilana is appalled by the elven "servants" staying at the archon's estate. The party gets invited to a party and Arasghilana talks Leben into sleeping with Anais again. At the party Arasghilana saves Tyra from being sexually assaulted by Marco, a magisters son. She comforts her and allows her to sleep in her bed. In the morning Arasghilana hesitantly reveals her deal with Desire to Tyra, although ommitting the fact that they had sex. The party ends up investigating a suicide and eventually attends the coronation. Arasghilana recieves a message from the empress and has to leave beforehand. On the way to Orlais, she finds a couple of people camped out in the forest. She overhears them talking about Cole, an elf the party met back at the Minrathous circle. She takes him captive and brings him back with her to the circle. She meets up with the party who have just defeated the undead Marco and Philo and they go into the basement after Cole. They battle with him and Arasghilana helps defeat a revenant and comforts Tyra after she kills Cole. In the Dirtharaan Dlc, Arasghilana recieves a mission from Leben to watch Emily, a merchant, to assess weather she is trustworthy or not. While they're talking, Arasghilana also meets a bard, a couple of Grey Wardens and the Tevinter's Adventurers Guild. Arasghilana takes a particular shine to Meri, an elven child and member of the guild. At night, Arasghilana is awoken by Desire who has taken the form of Tyra. Desire tells Arasghilana that she's been poisoned by the bard and is going to die if she doesn't do anything. Arasghilana wakes herself up and goes out into the hallway and sneaks up on the bard. He tells her that he's poisoned her and that his boss will sell her the antidote. After confronting his boss, Ms. Red, she gets the antidote and finds that they have been kidnapping children. The party goes off in search for them and she finds an elven tablet with fire that only she can see. They follow the flames into the deep roads and eventually end up inside an Eluvian in the crossroads. She's dazzled by the beauty of the crossroads but sad that Tyra can't experience it as well. She reads some runes and find out the true story of Dirthamen. Outside the eluvian they find out that a Fennec that has been following them from the deep roads is actually Meri. They use an elven artifact to turn her back but the woman behind it escapes. She gets back and Leben pays her for her work as well as giving her a lesson in bartering and an apology for how he treated her as a tranquil. Gallery med (1).png|Arasghilana as a tranquil without her headband Socks.png|Arasghilana with her socks from Tyra